A Wild Goode Chase
by TheCovertGirl
Summary: /"Zach, where did you go? When you were looking for me?" "Crazy. I went crazy."/ After Cammie went missing, Zach followed. What actually happened in the two weeks he disappeared to find her? Rated T for topless Zach.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

**Zach's POV**

"Cammie's gone."

I turned to face the source of the words, Rachel Morgan. Tears were streaming down her face in the faint light of the moon; her voice was barely above a whisper. She quietly walked over and sat next to me on the window sill. She looked out on the Gallagher Academy's campus, wishing it wasn't true. The way she didn't immediately accuse me or the Circle of doing anything told me that she felt defeated in all of this – the one person left in her family was gone.

"When did you find out?" I asked, looking out into the night. I felt frustrated that she left without me, without anyone.

"When Bex, Liz and Macey saw that Cammie didn't go back to their room, they went searching for her. They found this," she said, pulling out the CoveOps report I had seen her writing in just hours ago, "on the display case for the sword of Gillian Gallagher."

I took it from her hands and read it, absorbing every detail of the report - hoping to find something that would lead me to wherever she ran off to. There was nothing. Then I stopped at the part where she wrote in the present tense, the part where she tells us that she's running away.

"She really left us. To stop the Circle on her own." I said numbly. I could've kicked myself for not realising that she'd follow in her father's footsteps. She was mad at tunes, but that's why I like her.

"We've searched the whole campus and she's not her. She's not in any of the secret passageways, rooms or sub-levels. She's _gone_."

"No..." I whispered, the word sounding louder in the dark hallway. I couldn't believe it. I didn't _want _to believe it.

"Zach, tell me what she meant at the end." Her voice was strong in the silence and the expression on her face hid the heartbreak in her eyes. She put her hands on my shoulders and looked me in the eyes. "_What did you tell her?_" She wasn't the headmistress or an upset mother at that moment - she was the spy wanting information.

I stared down blankly at the few last pages. The same three words were repeated on them - _Zach was right_. She ran away because of me, because of what I said to her. "I told her to run away with me."

I placed the report in Mrs Morgan's lap and ran off without another word, despite Mrs Morgan's protests. I was heading towards the P&E barn. It was too much. I had to clear my mind the only way I could – the Blackthorne way.

* * *

**So what do you think? I haven't really seen many/any fanfictions about what happened in the two weeks Zach went missing, so yeah. I'm gonna make this the longest story I'll ever write (possibly).**


	2. Chapter 1

**A/N: So I've finally updated! *cheers* It turns out that I have exams that no-one told me about and now I have to study like mad. Enjoy topless Zach scene number 1!**

* * *

_Punch, kick, kick, punch, punch_. The therapeutic rhythm of my anger echoed in the room, clearing my mind from the mess everything was in. My t-shirt lay abandoned on a bench next to a towel and water. It was nice to take my anger out on something inanimate for once - a real luxury to not injure people. The light of the stars filtered through the sky-light, giving my surroundings a change for the better. It felt cooler here; the faint smell of hay and being drenched with sweat added to the change. By the time I noticed someone was in the barn with me, I was already exhausted and breathing heavily. The punching bag was wrecked and only one plan came to mind throughout the whole time - find her. I couldn't let my mom get a hold of Cammie. If she did, she wouldn't stop torturing her until she gets the information she wants - whatever it was.

"Zach, it's two in the morning. Why are you beating the crap out of that bag?" It was Bex's voice. I turned to face her and was shocked to see that she had been crying, the puffy red eyes giving it away. She wasn't alarmed by the state I was in - if anything, she was amused by the sight of a topless assassin beating up a punching bag in the middle of a barn at night.

"It's all my fault!" I shouted, the anger I tried to release exploding from me, "If it wasn't for me, Cammie would still be here!" I couldn't stop the tear rolling down my cheek - I lost the one person I cared about the most.

"We need to find her, Zach." she said, her voice wavering ever so slightly, "We're getting her back no matter what Mrs Morgan says."

"The Circle are going to be looking for her as well. Only _I _can stop my mom." I muttered through gritted teeth. She walked up to me and slapped me. Hard. I have to hand it to her, she was strong.

"We can't just wait for her to come back. She must've hidden some clues around to tell us where she went!" she barked, optimism growing in her voice. I sat down on the bench and threw the towel on my bare shoulder, discreetly hiding the scars. They ran from my left shoulder down to my lower back; there were a few scars on my stomach, but they blended in with my muscular figure (yes, I give you permission to drool over the mental image of me).

"She doesn't want to be found!" I sighed, destroying her last hope, "She even wrote that in the report. Cammie is smart enough to know what she wants, but she doesn't think of how it affects everyone around her. In her eyes, she's protecting us. In my eyes, she's going into a suicide mission." I explained in a rush. I knew I was right and so did she.

The world around us didn't know that Cammie was missing, not yet anyway. In the morning when everyone wakes up, mass hysteria will break free, rumours will go wild and the harsh reality will come crashing down on us all. Without the one and only Cameron Ann Morgan, nothing will be the same.

In the depressing silence, Bex suggested, "If you have nowhere else to go over the summer, you can come with me to help find Cammie. My parents were told about this a few hours ago."

I thought about it for a minute. "I'll meet you there sometime." I said mysteriously, hoping that she wouldn't ask why I said 'sometime'. She nodded and smiled, then walked back to the school. I went back to the P&E barn to finish the

I had one agenda for the first two weeks of summer vacation. If I didn't fulfil it, I would go back to normality and help find her with official agents. What I was planning to do would either succeed or fail, there was nothing in between. I would do the one thing Cammie didn't want anyone to do. I was going to look for her and nothing could stop me.

* * *

When I woke in the morning, panicked whispers were in the air. It was the last week of school and tests were still to be done. The news of Cammie's disappearance had been found out and everyone was shocked. I trudged into the Grand Hall and the voices silenced as I passed the girls. Rumours were already spreading about why she left - some thinking it was to find Jimmy, others think it was because I broke up with her. But they don't know the truth. She left to find her father and finish his incomplete mission. She was going to take down the Circle on her own.

"Zach!" yelled Tina Walters, running towards me, "Is it true that Cammie left because you dumped her?"

"No!" I replied. I was annoyed that she would think it was something so simple, so petty. Cammie isn't the kind of girl to run off because of a boy. She's a Gallagher Girl - a teenage spy-in-training who can kill a man in several different ways with a piece of uncooked pasta. She's a girl that can speak fourteen different languages. She's a girl that can disappear in front of your eyes. But most of all, she's my Gallagher Girl.

I sat down with Liz, Bex and Macey and started to interrogate them. "Where and when was the last time you set eyes on Cameron Ann Morgan?"

"Sixteen hundred hours. Library." was the reply from Liz. She looked smaller than usual and the cheerful smile she always wore had been wiped from her face.

"What is missing from all your belongings? Including hers." I fired off, tapping my fingers impatiently on the table.

"Four hundred dollars, a rucksack, her first CoveOps report and her dad's journal." Macey recited. She didn't seem that annoyed that Cammie took her money, but she wasn't as Macey-ish as she usually was.

I scraped my chair across the floor and got up, leaving the Grand Hall. Everyone watched me leave and the uproar that followed was intense. I had the most basic information that I could get. Now was the time that I would get ready.


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: I'm actually so sorry that I haven't updated in forever! I've been seriously ill and had to do homework and stuff... Anyway, here's the next chapter. I'll try and update quickly if I feel like it.**

* * *

After the last of the students left for their summer vacations (minus Bex, Liz and Macey. Obviously.), I knocked on Mrs Morgan's door. She opened it and let me in, going back to her laptop. I sat in the chair opposite to her desk and asked, "Any sign of Cammie?"

She shook her head and slumped further into her seat. "Nobody of her description has been seen in Virginia over the past week. She's either disguised herself or is hiding." she sighed, sipping a cup of black coffee. She looked like she hadn't slept at all - I know I've haven't.

"This is Cammie we're talking about. Cammie the_ Chameleon._" I couldn't stress this fact enough. Everyone seemed to be overlooking the one thing that makes her so special. "I'm going to go with Bex to find her. Hopefully things will get better from here." I said, rising from my seat.

"Hopefully..." Mrs Morgan repeated, answering her phone. I walked out and headed to my last stop before I left - the infirmary.

* * *

The room was brightly lit and machines were constantly beeping. In the centre of the wires was Mr Solomon - unconscious and unmoving. From head-to-toe, bandages covered my mentor's body. He had been seriously burnt in the tomb explosion saving Cammie. I stood by his side and told him my plan - praying for some kind of reaction.

"Joe, I'm going to look for Cammie. She ran off to finish her dad's mission six days ago. I don't know where she is, but I'm giving myself two weeks to find her on my own. When the time is up, I'll go searching for her with the Baxters." Nothing. "I'll be back soon, Joe. Don't worry about me - worry about Cammie. I know how much she means to you and you know how much she means to me."

I walked out nonchalantly and went to my room. They had given me a room in the East Wing (they were converted into living space for the exchange last year) to stay in since it wasn't safe for me back at Blackthorne. The only thing they still had to arrange was which teacher would accompany me. To be perfectly honest, I don't trust anyone at Blackthorne. They're probably working for the Circle. I still had to choose a chaperone, but I had the summer ahead of me. I had a girl to find.

I took what little belongings I had (Joe's notebook, that's it.) and made my way to the girls' room. Their bags were half packed and the room was a mess. "Macey, can I borrow three hundred dollars?"

"Whatever. My parents won't care if I'm losing seven hundred dollars in a week." She tossed me a wad of cash and carried on with her packing. Liz, on the other hand, stopped and looked at me.

"What do you need that for?" she asked cautiously.

"Classified." I replied, dodging her question. She paused for a moment then shrugged her shoulders, not pressing on.

"I don't even want to ask." was all Bex said. She closed her suitcase and walked purposefully towards the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try one last time to get Mrs Morgan to let me stay and help."

"I'm staying for a week. I've almost completed the machine need to keep Mr Solomon's muscles from atrophying whilst not in use." Liz piped in.

At the mention of Joe's name, I tensed a little. If it wasn't for my mother, he would be conscious. He'd still be fully alive. Everyone thinks he died a traitor in the tombs, but the truth is that he's alive and working against the Circle. He saved Cammie's life by setting off the explosions and risking his own - that's something that took courage to do. Courage was one thing I didn't have; I needed it to start my mission.

"I guess I'll be leaving now." I mumbled, shoving the money in my pocket.

"Where are you off to?" Liz asked innocently. I didn't know whether she was implying anything, but I just stood there frozen, not being able to speak.

"Erm... I've got to do something that Joe needed me to do. You know, before everything in the world was flipped upside down and destroyed." I was terrible at lying on the spot when it wasn't necessary. Liz nodded slightly and let me leave in peace.

* * *

I stepped out of the main doors of the Gallagher Academy and fidgeted with the strap of the rucksack. All it had inside was Joe's journal, a knife, the money and some food that I swiped from the kitchen. I took out the journal and pulled out the slip of paper that was covered in locations mentioned in it. On the reverse side was the locations mentioned in the journal Cammie took with her. They were almost exactly the same up until the last on Matt's list. Rome. The place where he disappeared from the face of the Earth. That had to be the place she went.

The next twenty-four hours were full of running, catching planes and hitch-hiking. I couldn't lose any time in doing this - Cammie would move on if she didn't find what she was looking for. By the time I landed in Rome, it was eight pm the next day. I checked into a cheap hotel and went through my plan of action. There were four places Cammie could be in Rome: in one of seven safe houses around the city, at the lakeside villa (another safe house), somewhere on her way to Vatican City or in one of the Circle's bases. I could cross the last one off the list - the Circle only uses each place once before leaving it. Looking down at the tourist map I had spread out on the floor, I decided to check the safe houses.

Grabbing the Swiss-army knife, I headed to the first place on the list. The sky was speckled with stars as I walked in the night. All around me were couples being romantic; I couldn't help but feel jealous. Frustrated even. Out of all the times Cammie could of disappeared, she chose the time where I'd be thinking about her the most. Since we first kissed and I left back to Blackthorne, I haven't stopped wondering about what she does when she's not using a cover - when she's not being a spy. I know she goes to her grandparents' ranch in Nebraska, but that's all the information I can get.

The building straight ahead was lit up from the inside - someone was in the safe house. I pulled my hood up over my head and shoved my hands in my pockets trying to look casual. I cautiously approached the house and looked up to see a window on the first floor was open. There was nobody around, so I stood on the ground floor window sill and jumped up and grabbed the ledge above, swinging my legs to land silently in the room with the open window.

The room I was in was small, but full of your usual spy stuff: weapons, blueprints, questionable phials of liquids, etc. . I scanned the room to see if anything was familiar, but nothing was. There was a bag on the bed, so I started to go through it. It contained several notebooks, a small handgun and two-hundred dollars-worth of Euros.

Quiet footsteps were coming to the door on the other side of the room. I could either jump out of the window and risk a stranger seeing me or wait to see who this mystery person is. It could be Cammie - she could've got this equipment in the last week of school.


	4. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm so sorry that I went MIA for a month or so (I have a life outside of FanFicton, y'know? It's called school ಠ_ಠ). My exams have (mostly) finished, so now I have more time to write and stuff! Wooh! *ahem* So this is the next chapter of A Wild Goode Chase. If it's not up to my usual standard, it's because I haven't written a story in weeks. ._. Enjoy!**

* * *

The door opened and a man stepped in. He was of average height and looked familiar. His wavy black hair was damp from a shower and his blue eyes were trained on me. He physically recoiled at the sight of me and pulled out a gun instantly. He couldn't see my face under my hood, so I did what I had to do. I jumped out of the window.

The glass exploded around me as I fell from the first floor window. Time seemed to slow down as the ground came closer and I landed on the balls of my feet. Nobody saw my kinda stupid escape, so I turned to the right and sprinted across the road. I risked a glance over my shoulder as I ran off, seeing the man following close behind. His gun was lowered, but the determined look in his eye told me he wouldn't stop until I disappeared or was killed.

We were beginning to enter the busier part of town - cafés and restaurants lined the street. I ducked into a corner café and walked up to the counter, pulling my jacket off. The man walked past the coffee house and stopped on the other side of the road. The gun was out of sight, but I didn't dare move from my hidden spot. He was a spy - he could've been concealing it in a secret pocket or something.

I bought a coffee from the barista and sat in the empty window seat. It was the perfect place to hide in plain sight whilst observing who I was pursued by (it might be a textbook move, but sometimes the simplest things are overlooked). He had pulled out a phone from his inner pocket and started talking to someone. I just managed to lip-read his conversation and felt my hands clench into fists at what he said.

"Cameron Ann Morgan is not here. We need to widen the search."

_He could either be a member of the Circle or the CIA, _I thought, _In any case, I've got to get out of here. _I sipped at my hot coffee and glanced at my watch. It was ten thirty-seven at night. I could either tail the mystery man and find out why he wants Cammie or go to the lakeside villa to try and find her. I went with plan B - the man wasn't trying to find another Circle member, so he was clear for now.

Walking out of the café, I hailed a cab which dropped me off at the CIA's lakeside villa. It was unoccupied - I could tell that from a mile away - but I searched it anyway. It was the kind of place I could imagine Cammie being at - the cosy size of the building, the lake, the location - it was oddly peaceful.

With the night dragging on, I decided to read Joe's journal. If he risked his life for Cammie to get it, then it must be important. I skimmed through the pages and paused at one section:

**Day 5860**

**Matt thinks he's found a way to take down the Circle from the inside. He's willing to risk his life to end them, but I don't think he knows how much pain Rachel would feel if he did get KIA. He says there's someone that can give him the necessary information that he needs to finish this assignment and that he's going to do this on his own; that they know me too well to not accuse me of his doing (that and the fact that I've been put on desk duty by the Director). It's hard for me to believe that he's going into this alone. It might be a stereotypical-Matt thing to do, but I hope he'll at least bring his own back-up.**

**Day 5892**

**I just want this to be over as soon as possible – they've gone too far. I don't know if he's dead or alive, but I have to tell his family. Rachel is going to be devastated, but she's got to be strong for Cammie. With this turn of events, it wouldn't be a surprise if she ends up being raised a spy. I was hoping to keep her like a normal seven year-old, a luxury for someone growing up with spy parents. I know it's always been a risk being in the clandestine services and I guess that's the reason why most of us aren't in a relationship – we _know _we could die out in the field and that's what we don't want to happen with our loved ones.**

**Day 5973**

**I _will _get to the bottom of this mystery some day. I will found out what actually happened to Matthew Andrew Morgan for Rachel. I wasn't the one to tell her that he went missing in the first place - I was too much of a wimp. This is one of the only ways I can make amends. Whatever it takes, I'll do this for her.**

* * *

_So Joe's been trying to solve this case for the past ten years?_ I snapped the journal shut and placed it on the side table. I had to think about my next move instead of just going wherever I could. I had a few options I could take tonight: a) Stay here for the night, go back to collect my things from the hotel in the morning and go to the next place on the list of locations Cammie would be, b) find the operative that Matthew Morgan was trying to meet up with or c) Fly to Budapest and give up. I felt myself falling towards option b, but I couldn't just stop looking for Cammie now - I broke into a freaking house for her! My hand subconsciously went to the dog-tag necklace around my neck from Blackthorne, reminding me of everything else I'd done and lost for the girl I love. At that moment, I knew my next move.


End file.
